The Hidden Clause
by Risa Zugva
Summary: Upon arriving on Homestead II. there is a young woman in stasis in ship's hospital, and three passenger's cryo chambers are empty. The story that is about to unravel might not be adjusted to the one that's been advertised by Homestead company in the years before the ship came to their soil.
1. A Note to Deliver

**Captain's Log**

Upon waking we found a woman frozen in stasis in our hospital. Three of our passengers are missing and there is no evidence of what happened except an enormous tree in the middle of our square and an extensive mess accompanied with different kinds of damage to the ship.

There are no records of what happened except a string of repairs that were made to the ship. The Central computer is denying anything out of ordinary happened. I'm considering about waking up the woman in the hospital, maybe she could shed some light on the whole story but I'm not sure would Homestead Corporation approve my initiative in this case or would I be punished for my boldness.

Two months are a long way to go, people are getting restless and curious creating romanticized versions of events. Maybe I'll be compelled to wake up the unidentified woman, who has no tag on her, just to keep people from forcing themselves in on her. There is a fascination with a woman closed up in a glass-like coffin. I'm not sure why, but they are getting impatient with my reinforcing regulations, which would compel me to let the interrogation to authorities because I have a stowaway in my hands and I have no idea how that happened.

Maybe I should wake her up just to prepare for my own questioning. When the answer to my messages gets to us, we'll be already descending on Homestead II. My decisions will be my own, but I'm entering this note into my log hoping it'll relieve some of my responsibility. The voyage is long and curiosity of my passengers is a fact that doesn't change the face of the new world. On contrary, it grew bigger.

The question is remarkable important, do we have a hero or a criminal on our hand. The outcome could change the way we conduct interstellar travel.


	2. Unresponsive

_A/N: so it seems Aurora is an engineer at this trip and things start to change on us. Not sure where she's leading us._

 _No beta: feel free to apply :)_

* * *

Aurora woke up in the darkness. She had troubles opening her eyes as the simulation welcomed her on Homestead II. As she moved she discovered no one else is moving around her. That was out of place, they all should wander around awoken at the same time, to feel less isolated.

She knew that because she prepared herself for the journey watching every documentation possible. Aurora was an engineer, after all, she wanted to know how everything works, and she wanted to be sure nothing will go wrong. Especially with socialization, there she wanted to be sure about every step she makes.

Now she hesitated in stepping out of her hibernation pod waiting for others to move, for other lights to lit, but nothing happened. Everyone stood still sleeping away.

"Put me back to sleep, cryo," she said to the computer but it just replied with repeated instructions to proceed to her cabin.

"You can't be so stupid" she lost her temper. "And so unresponsive, put me back to sleep, refreeze me, and wake me when others are awake. Put me back to hibernation!"

"Hibernation takes place in special labs, pods are only for sustaining cryo-stasis" computer started to run vids about hibernation like she doesn't already know everything about it.

"Why would Homestead Company downgrade its pods? It costs money to downgrade things!" she refused to move.

"Homestead Company does only what it's best for its passengers. It's safest to put your trust in us because this way you can't harm yourselves with the lack of knowledge. Hibernation pods never malfunction, they are safe and reliable, and there is no use of passengers managing hibernation process themselves, and we're not so irresponsible to leave such great responsibility to computing machines."

"But you can put all the rest of the trip to their hands," she said desperately and finally got out of her pod. "When the others will wake up?"

She turned around at the lack of any response. Her pod's interface has turned off. No one was moving, but the path was lit before her so she followed it to her cabin. Comforting thing was that all her stuff were there. There were not many things but she preferred it that way.

The interface in her cabin informed her about the introductory class she was to attend to and she hoped others will wake up to be there too, but the time was all wrong. If her clock hasn't stopped, there were no way they are at Homestead already.

She put her leather jacket on and looked at her face in the mirror. Her hair has grown too long. Even if everything stands still hair grows even if you're frozen. If she was home she would cut it but now she just tied it up on her head to keep it out of her way.

The computer in her room was just as uninformative as the one in her pod, if not less. She hated that, there were no plugs, now wires, nothing to open and override its repetitive nature.

At home, she had all her technology hacked to be manageable and responsive, but outside everything became less and less accessible. To protect them against theft and terrorism all technology became just an interface with specific service, but without any way of interacting with it.

The classroom was chillingly empty, interface infuriatingly automated. Aurora felt panic creeping in. She knew the flight was automated, she knew no one was left awake to suffer years alone, but no one ever mentioned the possibility to awaken alone.

Slowly she walked the halls trying not to give in to panic. She knew the ship's layout by the heart. Passing by the bridge confirmed her fear that they weren't at their destination yet. There was no way of entering the bridge, which was the first level of protection of their route. If any terrorist would be crazy enough to wake up while everyone is sleeping he can't divert the ship from its course.

Aurora realized that she just answered her own question, they probably degraded hibernation pods to discourage any terrorist attacks on the ship during its trip. It was chilling to think that if she manages to reach Homestead that she might me charged for terrorism just for being awake.

Maybe she wasn't the only one awake. Maybe she was awakened by someone to be blamed for the damage they already made to the ship.

Her breath got hectic. She would be a perfect scapegoat. A poor engineer who offered her services to the new colony in an exchange for the trip. No one would believe anything else.

After that, she moved slowly looking around. Navigational room told her that she was right, her clock was right, there were eighty years more to fly on. She saw no way of returning to stasis, and the computer gave her no answer to her questions.

If the damage is already done, whatever it is, when the ship reaches their destination, or when they finally find its debris, her body will tell them that she's to blame, and all her countrymen will be out on the run once again targeted for something they didn't do.

No, she won't give into resignation, if there is any damage on this ship she'll find it and repair it. That was what she was set out here to do anyway, to repair things. She'll go through every inch of this ship and find the damage, no matter how small it is. And then, if she finds no other way, she'll walk out of an air chamber. It was better for her to disappear than to be found dead out of her pod, then any charge could be made, they could pin to her whatever they want.

* * *

 _Do leave a comment._


	3. The Dread Master

_A/N: so things are unfolding._

 _No beta._

* * *

Jim woke up feeling little woozy. It was a new sensation and he was satisfied by it. After all, he was a writer who came along on this journey just to experience things anew, to see the future. He was curious to find out what had changed while he slept. It was a lifetime after all, in a lifetime world would change upside down.

A wonderful thing about this trip was that he will be able to see the world change twice. First to see how the colony is adapting, what their culture looks like, how are they different from Earthlings. Secondly to see Earth two centuries into the future.

To have himself in a freezer for two centuries would be too costly even for his lofty incomes, but this trip was a wonderful opportunity. He didn't even have to pay the full price of his first class ticket. Part of it will be discounted by his honorary for his part in documenting great endeavor that is colonizing new planets. He was proud to be a part of it.

The fact that his contract obligated him to portray Homestead Corporation in the favourable light didn't bother him. It was a journalist's job to portray the world through a certain lens that would allow their readers to see what a right thing to do is. And the right thing to do was to expand to new worlds and make human kind great and victorious.

Jim wasn't bothered by the fact that he was the only one awake. Maybe computer woke them up in batches, maybe he got an early start to see things first, to be able to witness everyone discovering their new world. He dressed carefully examining his features in his big mirror. His cabin was suitably big and he had a nice window. He wouldn't mind spending some more time in this space.

Few months on the ship should be a joy to experience. As he walked the empty halls he was composing sentences in his mind celebrating sleek, reliable design, enjoyable silence, and clean surfaces. He lost his pace when he came across a mess cleaning robots were unable to deal with.

Their round small bodies crushed into the barrier unable to cross over the dented metal which revealed ship's insides. That was just plain wrong but surely someone will come in soon to repair it.

Jim walked around it and shook off that strange feeling of fear. Why would he fear a simple repair job?

But it didn't look like a simple repair. It looked like a huge malfunction. The whole plate was lifted up and wires beneath it were a real mess. The floated in space, in the middle of nothing. They couldn't just step outside on the curb of the road and wait for their vehicle to be fixed, or for the towing service to show up.

Things didn't look any better in the introductory classroom either. They looked even more disturbing. To wake up alone was one thing but to be in front of a training interface all alone was just plain wrong. He tried to engage with the simulation but it was just a simple drone.

He got up as the class continued like nothing is wrong. He started to look for someone, anyone, but he found no one. It seemed like he's alone. He checked every surface that was open. Found the bridge just to discover it was sealed, closed off. Finally, he found an observatory and discovered an awful truth, which was that their trip isn't near its end, it wasn't even half way through. There was no chance he could live for ninety years and live to see the new planet.

Firstly he calmed himself down and tried to find a way to get himself back to sleep. When he discovered he can't then the panic set in. He ran through the halls like a crazy person. It felt like he was going mad, maybe it was all a dream, he surely just has bad dreams in his Popsicle state, but they assured him he won't have any.

Earth, he remembered finally, they will surely have an idea, instructions how to fix his pod, how to go back to sleep. With a sense of a relief, he sent his message with an explanation how he woke up.

"I'm trying to fix this," he said hoping he'll be able to follow their instructions.

He sent out his message and then met another dreadful surprise. Their response will come in fifty-five years. With a sense of disbelief, he continued to explore the ship. It must be a dream.

Finally, he saw a face of a bartender. He sat down with a sense of relief just to discover that the face belonged to a robot. At that he couldn't help but snort, the irony of it all became too much for him to handle.

"So what now?" he toasted to the bartender Arthur. "To just sit around for years and wait for miraculous instructions about hibernation pods, because I can't begin to understand how to work with them, or to bang my head on the wall until it bleeds. Maybe I could write for fifty years, but I'd be ancient till then, that wasn't the point of this trip. It wasn't the point to be stranded and alone."

"Tell that to Aurora, she's been going mad from it for a year now," Arthur said with his irritating smile. "She'll surely be glad to see you awake, she's been in need of company for some time now. I'm glad she'll get you to accompany her, she became quite dreary lately."

"Aurora?" Jim jumped up. "Who is that? Where is she? Did she wake me? Why would she do that to me? What did I ever do to her? How does she look like?" Jim got fearful, what if one of his many conquests decided to follow him on this journey and take her revenge on him like this. It would be most cruel to do this to him, but maybe it was just a prank, maybe she knows how to get back to sleep.

"Maybe if you turn around she would tell you the answers," Arthur nodded towards him.

Jim turned around startled just to be faced with a messy, tired face of a small woman. She was all covered in grease, her clothes were all dirty, and her hair was sticking around her face as a haystack. He never saw a woman so appalling and he never saw her before in his life.

"Why would you wake me?" he yelled at her. "I never heard of anything so vile, why would you drag me into your nightmare. If you were lonely you should just jump out of an airshaft. That's what I would do, I would just end it with dignity, I wouldn't let myself get so… animal-like."

"Of course" she shook her head with disdain, her voice was cracked from lack of use. "Who would you send me but a jerk, an asshole, an excuse for a man? I told you I could do it alone, you didn't have to drag anyone else into it."

As she spoke tears fell down her face but her words weren't directed at Jim, but at the bartender behind him. She has gone mad, everyone knew service robots were just drones, programmed to serve, without any higher intelligence.

"Come on now," Arthur said with his cheerful voice putting two glasses on the counter. "Jim here is a quite enjoyable company, he's a writer, I'm sure he could entertain you and make you put on your glam for a while. The task will be over soon and you'll both get your re-compensation for your troubles."

"You can re-compensate me in Hell!" she screamed at him and stormed off.

Jim looked after she intrigued. Maybe she has gone crazy, but what a story it would be, maybe it would be even worthy of him getting to Homestead old instead of young. It would be better than any journalism, it could be a full pledged novel like the ones his father received prizes for. Maybe, just maybe, his name Jim Preston would overshadow the name of his father James Preston jr., The Great Dread Master.

* * *

 _Well isn't that a woozy?_


	4. Unsettling

_A/N: to answer the question, the roles are reversed many reasons. Because it's dull to see a male engineer save day, and because Chriss Pratt is to buff to appear helpless and geeky. There is more but read on and we'll see will I make it work._

 _No beta so I apologize in advance._

* * *

Arthur was a machine and not a self-sufficient machine. Aurora knew that all too well. It was forbidden to make androids self-aware, to give them a possibility to make decisions. The prospects of that were proven to be quite devastating for humans. But that didn't mean that other computers were capable of making decisions in dreading situations.

As months passed by to her horror, Aurora became aware just how computers, who can't make their own decisions but are programmed to deliver instructions to the letter, can be terrifying. For some time now she was acutely aware that she won't be allowed to survive her trip.

Even if she manages to trick her pod to put her back to cryo-stasis she wasn't sure that it would let her wake up. Walking out of air-chamber seemed like an elegant and beautiful dream, something she could control. Going to sleep not sure will she awake was more terrifying. She was at mercy of Avalon. The ship could just cut her air supply, she wouldn't even flinch in her dream. It could turn gravitation off and then on letting her fall over and over again until she dies.

For most of those things she was quite sure that are forbidden, but there were always go-arounds, especially if Avalon has instructions to end her as soon as her job is done.

Arthur was aware of that as much as her lunch machine, but he had a human face and she could yell at him without feeling too crazy. It was maddening to deal with Avalon. It seemed to her that giving instructions through Arthur seemed more merciful than to drive around the ship by automatic interfaces which offered no reply or justification.

That's why she hacked him and gave the ship a voice. That was the worst mistake she ever made. Now she felt paranoid and delusional because data which came out through android were just mad.

Before she made Arthur talk to her interfaces led her throughout the ship and instructed her what to repair. Soon she was sure there was no terrorist attack. No one had woken her up for some mean reason. The ship, Avalon, woke her up to repair it.

But the ship didn't know how to explain it to her, how to ask for help. It just turned lights on and off and led her in the right direction turning on automatic displays near places where the damage occurred. As interfaces spoke of this or that side of colonial life, style of clothing for different areas or just need for exercising on the journey to keep themselves in shape, she would knock on the metal, lifted plates with the help of small machines that followed her around, or cut through the wall.

Soon it became transparent that the damage isn't caused by human intervention but by an asteroid strike. They must have gone through some sort of an asteroid belt.

Who in their right mind would drive straight through an asteroid belt? The universe was huge, it was freakishly big. If anyone sat behind that wheel she would turn and go around it, but no, the ship was automated and computers had no way of deciding even simplest tasks like avoiding really big rocks on its way.

But the question that bugged her was why was she awaken? If the computer didn't have any way of deciding and planning, why her? How did it know she'll have all the expertise she needs to fix all those problems, and malfunctions were various? From heating, through to lighting, cooling and life support. If she hadn't been very good at her job they would all just die out here when all those small damages would pile up one against the other.

That's why she rewired Arthur knowing that his android brain which was made for seemingly meaningful interaction with his customers. He could keep up an illusion of a conversation. She hoped that his ability to interpret data in a way humans can respond to will allow him to form Avalon's instructions into coherent sentences, from which she'll find out why she was chosen.

What she found out was more unsettling that following hints and changing lights.

* * *

So...


	5. Decipher

_A/N: After awhile, sorry for the delay, the interstellar messages travel slowly._

 _No Beta._

* * *

When she disappeared from sight Jim decided to have that drink bartender was offering. After all, she didn't have anywhere to run to and it would be bad to begin an interview with her trying to find a bat to hit him on the head. It was best to leave upset women to calm down before addressing them. Surely she'll find time to fix her appearance when she remembers that she's not alone on the ship anymore. He was here to keep her company.

With that, he smiled. This might turn out just ok, especially when he discovers the way for them to get back to sleep.

Jim visited all sorts of entertainment areas in next few days. Aurora stayed clear of his path. It was like she knows all his movements because whenever he would try to make a stakeout she wouldn't appear on the spot she was repairing earlier. In fact, the repairing spot would stay crackling and blink as he would stand beside it.

After two hours he rushed away from the spot. He returned to it the next day just to find it repaired.

"I guess," he said to the passing cleaning droid. "You'll ice me, I wish, when you're ready I'll be in the cafeteria, I like their breakfast, it's better than in any restaurant on board. Maybe I can treat you with something?"

He pranced away and went to play some basketball, his muscles were in terrible shape from all that sleeping around. Not with women sadly.

The following day she sat in the cafeteria with a blunt food before her. He ordered a luxurious meal and put it before her. He knew her kind, their accounts were very basic, Jim would never travel like that.

She looked at the food and he looked at her. She combed her hair and washed her face, but her clothes were still too comfortable to determine what is underneath it, but this wasn't the time to be picky, after all, she was the only woman light years away.

"It won't bite you, then you can tell me how we can fix our pods, surely someone with your skills, and I saw the work you've done, can fix something so small as an ice-pod," he smiled at her his best smile and she just stared at him.

"You can take away your food, there is no way of repairing pods, they took their units for freezing out, it can just sustain stasis, not initiate it. I looked at infirmary too, there are restrictions I can't overcome."

"Arthur mentioned re-compensation," he wasn't alarmed, there's no way Homestead Company would leave them stranded out here, they have something planned.

Jim reached with his fork to take a kiwi from her plate but she slapped his hand away.

"He means money, which we can't use here, and maybe you're right, maybe there will be a way to hibernate you," she started to eat with an appetite.

"It's not true we don't have anything to spend on here, there are fine restaurants around, and a pool, sauna…"

"I wouldn't be caught dead in that pool," she interrupted him and sighed continuing in a lower voice. "I'm sorry that it woke you up, it tried to make me choose someone to help me but I refused. I guess I spent too much time by your pod talking to you. It thought I'll approve your choice."

"You talked to me in stasis?" she smirked more and more tuning in on her features, it was something captivating on her face, how would he describe her eyebrows, or her eyes, what was so interesting to her while she talked. Maybe her seriousness.

"Don't be cocky," she frowned looking adorable for some reason, Jim smiled and she growled. "I sat by others too. What can you do alone for a year, talk to sleeping passengers to pass the time."

"What did you tell them?" he slipped in his silent interviewing tone, some of most interesting stories are told by a meal which she eats halfway through.

"Nothing," she was defensive but then a pear softened her features, she looked as she was going to cry. "Small things, thoughts, to everyone different one. As I would to a not very talkative awake person. You look someone in the face, decide what kind of a person is she and then tell her something you hope will interest her."

"What did you tell me while I wasn't listening," he smiled at her but she didn't see that because she stared at the floor by her feet, he wanted to run his fingers through her hair. It was heart-breaking to picture her all alone for a whole year.

"Nothing important," she shrugged her shoulders. "About repairs, I thought it would interest you as a writer, details and progression. It almost seems that Avalon is leading me in a progressive line towards a core glitch, but I don't understand why it leaves the harder fixes for the end."

"Maybe it's testing you, your abilities, to see are you capable," he offered taking an untouched avocado from her plate.

She looked at him and a smile appeared. The smile confirmed that her features are very pleasing.

"I knew it would engage you," she said and flipped her hair which he now noticed how light it was, it was just the perfect colour of the sun. "It's not a bad theory, this way it can replace me if I prove to be unfit before I mess up something really important."

"I'm glad to be of help," he smiled. "And I'm glad to be chosen to keep you company."

She looked at him with a frown he couldn't decipher.

* * *

 _Hopefully another one soon._


	6. A Will to Live

_Aurora talks to Arthur._

* * *

Being alone for a year wasn't the worst thing Aurora could imagine.

She was a loner after all.

The absence of people was relaxing for her but there was a matter of silence. She played all sorts of music while she could but it was hard to sustain the flow of sounds since she controlled only insides of her cabin.

On the corridors, there was no way of controlling the environment. It was made impersonal so no one would get offended by words or sounds.

That meant silence. A dreadful silence which stated that the vacuum was just on the other side of the wall.

Her work grew in complexity as time went on. That too made her occupied, it made her less aware of her surroundings.

To ease her solitude she went and sat beside passengers. There she stared at their faces just to make her eyes remember that she's not alone in the entire universe.

With time she started to speak to them out loud pretending that they can hear her as people in coma sometimes could

By that writer guy, she spent quite some time. She imagined that he would be interested in her story, that he would write it down after they reach Homestead. That he'll tell it even if he's not aware why is he doing it.

As for Arthur, she avoided him as much as she could.

After giving him a connection to Avalon, he became creepy beyond measure. Only luck was that he couldn't move away from his counter.

Aurora finally understood why androids weren't given legs. Without legs their thoughts even if awaken would stay just that, thoughts.

"You're to repair me," said Arthur in the slight automated voice which Avalon used. "That is a sub-clause of your contract."

"What sub-clause, I have read the whole damn thing," Aurora was shouting now. "I would never sign something that would cause me to die on the way there."

"It's written in the classified part of the contract," Arthur said calmly rubbing a glass. "Every passenger is attached to Avalon during the trip."

"How do you mean attached?" Aurora felt chills. "They are just in stasis, it doesn't make them a part of the ship."

"But it does," Arthur smiled. "They are a cargo as they are an emergency replaceable units. Each trip has a human to serve as a spare part for the ship."

Aurora stood in stunned silence for a moment feeling how her life has expired, she was just a drone now, a replacement.

"Which part am I?" she could sense the answer.

"A repair drone of higher order," Arthur said with a smile. "The one which is in service now can't do anything but basic maintenance. For any malfunction of higher order, you were to be awakened."

"But what if I face a challenge I can't solve?" she felt chills all over her skin.

"Then another spare part will be awakened, but that would be most unfortunate," Arthur pouted.

"Why would that be unfortunate?" Aurora was backing away slowly because Arthur stopped rubbing the glass and stopped smiling.

"Because there is a rule of colliding units. There can't be two similar units awoken at the same time, they might overlap and cause a mutiny."

After that Aurora worked on repairs, with a pressing sense of urgency. All her thoughts of air chambers and easy death were abandoned.

Aurora wished to live more than ever.


End file.
